When In Wolfstadt
by Dead End Signs
Summary: Team Grimm thought it was over. Too bad evil doesn't sleep. Check it out, a new Brothers Grimm story, bet you weren't expecting THAT. Seriously. I'm so late writing this and why is the movie's name spelled wrong on this site? This is the best summary.


**Oh, I'm seven years too late to this fandom which is probably all gone now. Awesome. To be perfectly honest, I rewatched The Brothers Grimm yesterday and felt like writing something for it. I'm not expecting any reviews so I guess I'm talking to myself TROLOLOL So here I am, telling myself that I need some writing practice and why not write the Grimm brothers a little sequel? Cavaldi's dialogue is deliberately misspelled in places because I'm trying to be cool and capture his voice, oh good for me, and look I even put in some Italian HOW COOL. But this stuff is easy to write and doesn't take long so yeah. Sorry for the bad writing I'm rusty. Why am I even saying this? It's just me in here! D:**

It had been several weeks since the defeat of the Thüringen Queen. Marbaden was miles behind the Grimms. Discussion of the few days spent in that town had been quickly extinguished by sour looks and awkward coughs whilst they had journeyed the gray and misty German roads, no certain direction established. All had been both glad and reluctant to leave the town. The final hours in Marbaden had been pleasant without a doubt, but the events leading up to that merry finale had been… stressful. Each man carried with him some trace of heaviness and dread despite the frivolities of the locals when their horses had clopped through Marbaden mud for the last time. As soon as the singing and the music had petered away and the town was left in their wake, thoughts turned away from the celebration. Reality set back in like a sudden cold front, blood becoming ice water in veins whenever a visual memory of recent happenings floated to the forefront of a mind.

The Grimms passed through town after town, stopping whenever they or their horses tired. Wolfstadt was their most recent resting point. It was a dank, jumble of a town. The stone flags and cobbles the horses' hoofs cracked against announced their arrival, however there were few willing to greet them. It was akin to how Marbaden had initially treated them, though the hostile stone walls and tall buildings which loomed made it seem all the more foreboding. Jake shrank into his saddle, and even Will kept his eyes forward. Cavaldi tried his best to rouse the locals, but judging by the perplexed, sometimes disapproving expressions, they were not all that interested, forcing the fatigued Italian to rapidly give up. The local tavern had begrudgingly accepted their request for lodging and the evening was spent at the bar. The patrons had long retired when the night grew old, but the three travellers remained.

"You know, Grimmi, you cost me my job with your magic and your evil monsters and your running around like _pollo _with no heads…" Mercurio Cavaldi drawled into his ale with a snort of laughter, narrowing his pale eyes at the swirling caramel-colored liquid in the grimy glass as if he expected to find something else floating on its surface (he'd scooped the long-dead fly out not five minutes ago though he swore a wing was still drifting around in there...) There had not been any particular ring of spite in his undulating Italian accent, but perhaps a pinch of melancholy. He was hunched over the counter with his elbows propped up on the wood and his head low. The dim light of the inn's fireplace was dying, the embers spitting in the corner; the only noise at this late hour.

"We're sorry about that," Jake answered absent-mindedly with a frown, speaking through the feathers of the quill between his teeth. His spectacles were perched low on his nose as he inspected his notes.

"Ah, it does not matter," Cavaldi shrugged with a huff of a sigh, hinting it probably did matter, fishing for sympathy. He even raised his brows in expectation at the Grimm sitting rigid as a school lad at his desk beside him. Jake hummed and nodded, eyes roving the book in his hands. Cavaldi sniffed and raised his chin a little higher. New tactic required. The second Grimm was at his other side, consumed in his drink. Cavaldi's intense stare directed toward him requesting attention turned empty when it was clear Wilhelm was too exhausted to move so he swayed his head back to face his ale. He didn't much like the stuff when it was as warm and smoky and filthy as the room he sat in. He'd also glimpsed lumps at the base of the glass the last time he tipped it. His thirst had steadily waned since that moment; the desire to survive the night and not die as a result of consuming clumps of god knew what in the alcohol too strong, surprisingly.

Five, long, silent minutes crawled by, driving Will Grimm to leap off his stool and clap a hand on Jake's shoulder, which made the younger brother almost swallow a mouthful of quill. He removed it from his teeth and flashed Will a discerning look. Before he could speak, the crack of lightning blazed through the grubby windows, the roar of thunder rumbling afterward. The clattering of rain on the roof sounded like the hiss of serpents.

"Time to turn in, I think." Said Will with a nod in agreement with himself, interrupting Jake's train of thought. Jake stood away from the bar at his brother's statement, book tucked into the crook of his elbow and jacket draped over his arm.

Cavaldi leaned back and straightened his posture. "Already?" He asked disappointedly, mouth ajar in mild disbelief.

"It's three in the morning. Even the barman has fallen asleep behind the counter. I think sleep would be a reasonable idea, don't you?" Will answered tersely with a tired but sardonic sneer, a hand running through his mop of blonde hair and eyes blinking madly in some attempt to stop himself from sleeping on the spot. Jake was incapable of much beyond staring and letting his eyelids slowly close.

"Fine! This is fine, you go. No rest for the bad, right?" Cavaldi said, pulling the collar of his coat up with a familiar smugness.

"Wicked." Jake corrected in a quiet grunt.

"Perdono? What?"

"It's 'no rest for the wicked.'"

"Yes, this is what I said. Go to sleep, you are… garbling your words." Cavaldi waved the brothers away.

A screech howled through the paper-thin windows.

Jake peered up at his older brother, who peered right back and curled a nostril. "No." He said astutely. "Absolutely no."

"Absolutely yes, Will. Absolutely yes!" Jake beamed, suddenly awake as anything and pulling on his jacket, his book and writing utensils placed carefully onto the bar counter.

"Scusi? Why is Jackob so _eccitato _about one leetle scream? It could be anything! Falling over, screaming child, rat in the house, or, hmm, throes of passion…" Interrupted Cavaldi, on his feet and giving the younger Grimm a dubious look, probably because he was supposed to be the one enthusiastic about screaming and Jake was stealing his thunder. The very real thunder outside was deafening. The clamoring rain was drumming a vicious tattoo on the roof. The second Jake wrenched open the tavern door the rain rushed in on the wind. Jake was soaked from head to toe in a second, spluttering and trying to cover his eyes, the flashes of lightning blinding him.

"There! You see?" Cavaldi exclaimed over the racket of the storm raging outside, "is just the wind!"

"Jake, shut the damn door for Christ's sake! It's not important!" Will pleaded, but Jake had already leapt away from the doorframe and into the tempest.

Will and Cavaldi remained where they stood for a few stricken seconds before hastening after Jake. Cavaldi was last outside, having checked to assure every throwing knife and pistol in his coat was accounted for. The noise was terrific. The gale was wailing as if it was being slaughtered. Each raindrop which struck skin pierced like a needle; over and over it bombarded the trio. They could not see each other through the misting torrent.

Will was bowled over by something. It hit him in the solar plexus and sent him onto his back, the air knocked from his lungs in a gasp. Attempting to wipe the rain from his blurred eyes, he noticed the something was clinging onto him before it struggled to stand, kicking and punching as it did so. Will grasped its clothing, noticing it was wearing a dress. One with frills. Will raised his brows, then a hand clawed down his face, the kicking and the growling continuing. He grasped the something around the waist and pulled it to one side.

A horrified face gawped back at him. Her hair was plastered across her face but her vivid eyes bored right through the dark strands and into Will's soul, it seemed. Christ, what had frightened her so terribly?

"Let go!" She cried, her voice hoarse but definitely the same voice which had sounded that blood-chilling screech before. She was trying desperately to wriggle from his grasp. Will hauled them both to their feet, not expecting the female to be so heavy. She was not a slim girl. His grip on her dress was slipping as he stumbled to the nearest covered doorway, dragging the woman after him. Her nails were digging into his wrists and he had a terrible suspicion she was trying to bite him. Amazingly, Cavaldi was taking shelter under the same doorway. The lightning flashed the world into focus for a second to reveal the man staring up at the weather with a mild interest, as if he were waiting for a carriage to draw up. Will thrust the writhing woman into the surprised Italian's arms before the man could speak. "Hold onto her!" Will ordered, and then braved the wild weather once more, a hand shielding his face in his frantic search for Jake. He called his brother's name until his throat ached, staggering down the street against the storm.

"_Frowline_, I think you should calm down-!"

"_You_ calm down! I swear if you don't let me go I shall punch you! It's dangerous out here! Oafish foreigner!" The woman was squirming in Cavaldi's strong grasp, her round form helpless against his height and strength.

"This is not how ladies behave, frowline. I am sure there is nothing out here." Cavaldi wheezed through his teeth when the woman drove her elbow sharply into his ribs. He slumped against the brick porch and the woman snatched the opportunity to pull away from his hold. She spun about and grappled her captor by the lapels, drawing his face closer to hers, her eyes blazing. "There is a monster out here. You and your stupid friends will be killed!" She snapped. Ramming her knee into Cavaldi's gut, she raced from the porch and vanished into the darkness of the storm. Cavaldi's face was a picture of confusion, pain and trepidation, unsure if he would have been better off staying in Marbaden after all.

"Jake!" Will called again, his voice barely carrying across the roar of the wind.

A dark shape up ahead. Will slowed his cumbersome run to a trot, a smile easing onto his expression. "Jake. Never, ever do that again. It's too late at night for pointless escapades! I found the screamer, it was just a woman. So let's just go back to the tavern and get some bloody sleep!" He told the dark figure, gasping an amused laugh, expecting to hear his brother's mad ranting and raving in response.

He received a guttural snarl instead.

And then it was upon him. Rolling yellow eyes fixed their gleaming glare onto his startled blue ones. Teeth flashed, jaws snapped, claws sent sparks flying from the cobbles. A gargantuan, pitch black canine careered toward Wilhelm Grimm with fire bursting from its mouth.


End file.
